1. Field
The embodiments relate to a power supply circuit, a power supply control circuit, and a power supply control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a portable electronics device such as a notebook-type personal computer, a secondary battery is mounted as a power source, and a charging circuit is also often mounted in the device so that the secondary battery can be easily charged when an external power source is coupled via an AC adapter or the like. Further, generally, the portable electronics device is driven by using power supply from the secondary battery when the external power source is not coupled, and is driven by using power supply from the external power source when the external power source is coupled.
In the portable electronics device, the secondary battery is charged by a constant voltage and a constant current applied to the secondary battery from the charging circuit using a DC-DC converter. The secondary battery generates heat when charged and discharged but is very sensitive to temperature, and thus rapidly deteriorates if charged when its temperature is beyond a tolerable range. Therefore, a conventional charging circuit monitors the temperature of the secondary battery and stops charging the secondary battery when the temperature of the secondary battery is beyond the tolerable range.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional charging circuit. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 illustrate the operation of a PWM comparator in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 illustrates temperature characteristics of a thermistor in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 illustrates temperature characteristics of a voltage supplied to a window comparator in FIG. 1. A conventional charging circuit CHG uses a DC-DC converter of a PWM control method and has a main switching transistor T1, a synchronous rectification transistor T2, a choke coil L1, a smoothing capacitor C1, a current measurement resistor RS, and a control circuit CTL.
The main switching transistor T1 is formed by an n-type transistor. An input pin of the main switching transistor T1 is coupled to a pin P1 for receiving an input voltage Vi. An output pin of the main switching transistor T1 is coupled to one end of the choke coil L1. A control pin of the main switching transistor T1 receives an output signal Q1 of a PWM comparator PCMP in the control circuit CTL. The synchronous rectification transistor T2 is formed by an n-type transistor. An input pin of the synchronous rectification transistor T2 is coupled to a ground line. An output pin of the synchronous rectification transistor T2 is coupled to the one end of the choke coil L1. A control pin of the synchronous rectification transistor T2 receives an output signal /Q1a of a gate circuit G2 in the control circuit CLT. The other end of the choke coil L1 is coupled to one end of the smoothing capacitor C1 and one end of the current measurement resistor RS. The other end of the current measurement resistor RS is coupled to a ground line. The other end of the current measurement resistor RS is coupled to a pin P2 for supplying an output voltage Vo to a secondary battery BTR.
The control circuit CTL includes a voltage amplifier AMP, voltage generators E1, E2, error amplifiers ERA1, ERA2, resistors R1 to R3, an n-type transistor T3, a triangular wave oscillator OSC, the PWM comparator PCMP, gate circuits G1, G2, and a window comparator WCMP. The voltage amplifier AMP receives, at a non-inverting input pin, a voltage of the one end of the current measurement resistor RS, and receives, at an inverting input pin, a voltage of the other end of the current measurement resistor RS (output voltage Vo). With this structure, the voltage amplifier AMP amplifies a voltage difference between the voltage of the one end of the current measurement resistor RS and the voltage of the other end of the current measurement resistor RS to generate a voltage Vc. Therefore, the voltage Vc generated by the voltage amplifier AMP corresponds to an output current of the charging circuit CHG (charging current of the secondary battery BTR).
The voltage generator El generates a reference voltage Ve1. The error amplifier ERA1 receives the reference voltage Ve1 at a non-inverting input pin and receives the voltage Vc at an inverting input pin. Consequently, the error amplifier ERA1 amplifiers a voltage difference between the reference voltage Ve1 and the voltage Vc to generate an output signal DF1. The voltage generator E2 generates a reference voltage Ve2. The resistors R1, R2 and the transistor T3 are coupled in series between the pin P2 and the ground line. A control pin of the transistor T3 receives a stop signal /STP supplied from the gate circuit G1. The error amplifier ERA2 receives the reference voltage Ve2 at a non-inverting input pin and receives, at an inverting input pin, a voltage of a coupling node of the resistors R1, R2 (a voltage resulting from the division of the output voltage Vo by the resistors R1, R2 and the transistor T3). Consequently, the error amplifier ERA2 amplifies a voltage difference between the reference voltage Ve2 and the voltage of the coupling node of the resistors R1, R2 to generate an output signal DF2. The triangular wave oscillator OSC generates a triangular wave signal TW with a predetermined period.
The PWM comparator PCMP is a voltage to pulse width converter which compares a lower one of a voltage of a first non-inverting input pin and a voltage of a second non-inverting input pin with a voltage of an inverting input pin, and sets the output signal Q1 (/Q1) high (low) when the voltage of the inverting input pin is lower, while setting the output signal Q1 (/Q1) low (high) when the voltage of the inverting input pin is higher. The PWM comparator PCMP receives the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 at the first non-inverting input pin, receives the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2 at the second non-inverting pin, and receives the triangular wave signal TW at the inverting input pin.
Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 2, in a case where the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 is lower than the voltage of the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2, the PWM comparator PCMP compares the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 and the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW, and sets the output signal Q1 high when the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 is higher than the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW, while setting the output signal Q1 low when the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 is lower than the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in a case where the voltage of the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2 is lower than the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1, the PWM comparator PCMP compares the voltage of the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2 and the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW, and sets the output signal Q1 high when the voltage of the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2 is higher than the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW, while setting the output signal Q1 low when the voltage of the output signal DF2 of the error amplifier ERA2 is lower than the voltage of the triangular wave signal TW.
The resistor R3 is coupled between a supply line of a pull-up voltage Vh and a pin P3. The pin P3 is coupled to one end of a temperature measurement thermistor Th in the secondary battery BTR. The other end of the thermistor Th is coupled to a ground line. The thermistor Th is a temperature-sensitive resistor element whose resistance value changes according to temperature, and has temperature characteristics as illustrated in FIG. 4. Since the constant voltage Vh is applied to a serial resistor formed by the resistor R3 and the thermistor Th, a voltage Vt1 of the pin P3 supplied to the window comparator WCMP has temperature characteristics as illustrated in FIG. 5.
The window comparator WCMP sets a stop signal STP1 low when the voltage Vt1 is higher than αV and lower than βV, while setting the stop signal STP1 high when the voltage Vt1 is lower than αV or the voltage Vt1 is higher than βV, where αV is a value that the voltage Vt1 has when the temperature of the secondary battery BTR is the highest temperature in the tolerable range and βV is a value that the voltage Vt1 has when the temperature of the secondary battery BTR is the lowest temperature in the tolerable range.
The gate circuit G1 sets the stop signal /STP low when at least one of stop signals STP1, STP2 is set high, while setting the stop signal /STP high when the stop signals STP1, STP2 are both set low. The stop signal STP2 is a signal for requesting activation/stop of the charging circuit CHG, and is set high when the stop of the charging circuit CHG is requested, while being set low when the activation of the charge circuit CHG is requested. When the stop signal /STP is set high, the gate circuit G2 supplies the control pin of the synchronous rectification transistor T2 with the output signal /Q1 of the PWM comparator PCMP as the output signal /Q1a, and when the stop signal /STP is set low, the gate circuit G2 supplies the control pin of the synchronous rectification transistor T2 with the low level signal as the output signal /Q1a. 
In the charging circuit CHG as described above, when the main switching transistor T1 turns on, the synchronous rectification transistor T2 turns off, so that a current is supplied from an input side to a load via the choke coil L1. Since a voltage difference between the input voltage Vi and the output voltage Vo is applied to the both ends of the choke coil L1, a current flowing through the choke coil L1 increases with time, and the current supplied to the load also increases with time. Further, energy is accumulated in the choke coil L1 when the current flows through the choke coil L1.
Then, when the main switching transistor T1 turns off, the synchronous rectification transistor T2 turns on, so that the energy accumulated in the choke coil L1 is discharged. At this time, the output voltage Vo is expressed by an equation (1) using an ON period Ton of the main switching transistor T1, an OFF period Toff of the main switching transistor T1, and the input voltage Vi.Vo={Ton/(Ton+Toff)}×Vi   (1)
Further, the current flowing through the choke coil L1 flows from the input side to an output side during the ON period of the main switching transistor T1, while supplied via the synchronous rectification transistor T2 during the OFF period of the main switching transistor T1. Therefore, an average input current Ii is expressed by an equation (2) using the ON period Ton of the main switching transistor T1, the OFF period Toff of the main switching transistor T1, and an output current Io.Ii={Ton/(Ton+Toff)}×Io   (2)
Therefore, if the output voltage Vo varies due to the variation of the input voltage Vi, it is possible to keep the output voltage Vo constant by controlling a ratio of the ON period/OFF period of the main switching transistor T1 based on the detected variation of the output voltage Vo. Similarly, if the output voltage Vo varies due to the variation of the load, it is also possible to keep the output voltage Vo constant by controlling the ratio of the ON period/OFF period of the main switching transistor T1 based on the detected variation of the output voltage Vo.
Further, in the charging circuit CHG, in accordance with an increase in a load current, a current flowing through the current measurement resistor RS increases, and a voltage decrease occurring at the both ends of the current measurement resistor RS becomes great. The great voltage decrease occurring at the both ends of the current measurement resistor RS results in a small voltage difference between the voltage of the non-inverting input pin and the voltage of the inverting input pin in the error amplifier ERA1, so that the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 lowers. As a result, since a pulse width (high-level period) of the output signal Q1 of the PWM comparator PCMP reduces, the output voltage Vo lowers, resulting in a decreased charging current of the secondary battery BTR.
On the other hand, if the load current decreases, the current flowing through the current measurement resistor RS decreases, and a voltage decrease occurring at the both ends of the current measurement resistor RS becomes small. The small voltage decrease occurring at the both ends of the current measurement resistor RS results in a large voltage difference between the voltage of the non-inverting input pin and the voltage of the inverting input pin in the error amplifier ERA1, so that the voltage of the output signal DF1 of the error amplifier ERA1 increases. As a result, since the pulse width of the output signal Q1 of the PWM comparator PCMP increases, the output voltage Vo increases, resulting in an increased charging current of the secondary battery BTR. In this manner, in the charging circuit CHG using the DC-DC converter of the PWM control method, controlling the output voltage Vo by controlling the ratio of the ON period/OFF period of the main switching transistor T1 makes it possible to control a charging current and a charging voltage of the secondary battery BTR.
Further, in the charging circuit CHG, when the temperature of the secondary battery BTR is higher than the highest temperature in the tolerable range, the stop signal STP1 supplied from the window comparator WCMP is set high since the voltage Vt1 becomes lower than αV. Consequently, the stop signal /STP supplied from the gate circuit G1 is set low, so that the charging circuit CHG stops and the charging of the secondary battery BTR is stopped. Similarly, when the temperature of the secondary battery BTR is lower than the lowest temperature in the tolerable range, the stop signal STP1 is set high since the voltage Vt1 becomes higher than βV. Consequently, the stop signal /STP is set low, so that the charging circuit CHG stops and the charging of the secondary battery BTR is stopped.
When the charging circuit CHG is in a stopped state, the stop signal /STP supplied from the gate circuit G1 is set low, and consequently, the output signal /Q1a of the gate circuit G2 is set low to turn off the synchronous rectification transistor T2, which prevents the secondary battery BTR from being discharged via the synchronous rectification transistor T2. Similarly, when the charging circuit CHG is in the stopped state, the stop signal /STP is set low, and consequently, the transistor T3 turns off, which prevents the secondary battery BTR from being discharged via the resistors R1, R2 and the transistor T3.
Incidentally, related arts include Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H08-33230, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H05-207671, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H05-227677, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-165408, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H10-32475, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-150885, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-211562, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-284593, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-274372, and so on.
The conventional charging circuit is structured to stop charging the secondary battery when the temperature of the secondary battery is beyond the tolerable range. This causes the following situations. That is, immediately after the secondary battery is discharged, the temperature of the secondary battery is relatively high. If the charging of the secondary battery is started in this state, the charging of the secondary battery is stopped immediately due to the high temperature, and the charging of the secondary battery is kept stopped until the temperature of the secondary battery lowers to a temperature within the tolerable range. Further, immediately after the portable electronics device is driven by using the power supply from the secondary battery, the temperature of the secondary battery is relatively high. Therefore, if the charging of the secondary battery is started in this state, the temperature of the secondary battery quickly increases up to a temperature beyond the tolerable range, and in some cases, the start and stop of the charging of the secondary battery are frequently repeated until the temperature of the portable electronics device sufficiently decreases.